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Zimbabwe’s lost son has returned, and bringing good news it seems. Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe’s finest batsman of the last decade, and possibly ever, is back in the fold and reckons “this can be the best period of Zimbabwe cricket”. And it’s not just Taylor who has a spring in his step. Kyle Jarvis also returns to bring thoroughbred quality to the pace attack, while Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza are all fairly recent Test centurions. This is turning out to be a galvanising year for Zimbabwe, following on from the team effort that brought one-day success, and nearly a Test upset, in Sri Lanka three months ago.Yet Zimbabwe will want to avoid sticking too close to the parable of the prodigal son now that Taylor and Jarvis are sure to slot straight back into the playing XI – those who stayed behind must also continue to be valued, or the return may unsettle even as it replenishes resources. It needs to be managed sensitively. After their successful tour of Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe were already in a good place as a unit. With good man management, the addition of the returning County pros will only inspirit this squad further. This feels like it could be the start of a brave new era for Zimbabwean cricket.It is continuity, rather than novelty, that West Indies are focused on. The selectors have delivered captain Jason Holder the same squad that went to England and bounced back from mediocre depths at Edgbaston to win in Leeds. West Indies found some fight on that tour, their 4-0 ODI defeat notwithstanding, and will need to retain their grit if they are to keep a resurgent Zimbabwe down.Shai Hope’s broad bat, and West Indies’ gaggle of menacing quicks, might prove to be the difference between the two sides, though Zimbabwe will try to negate West Indies’ pace advantage by preparing a pitch to suit their own slow-bowling strengths. Taylor’s return will add mettle to their middle order too, and in familiar conditions, but as West Indies coach Stuart Law pointed out ahead of the opening Test, when you bowl as fast as Shannon Gabriel it doesn’t really matter what sort of pitch you’re playing on.West Indies have lost out on automatic qualification for the next World Cup due to their one-day ranking, and they will be glad to be playing in conditions they will return to for the qualifiers in March. Their Test ranking of No. 8 could also do with some zhuzhing-up, but pride and fight are beginning to characterize this West Indies Test team, and there will be no danger of complacency for them despite the opposition.

Form guide

Zimbabwe: LLLLL (most recent first)
West Indies: LWLLW

In the spotlight

Zimbabwe have been unfortunate to lose many players of great quality in the last ten to fifteen years. Some have come back, but not many, and fewer still have found success on their return. Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis‘ comeback feels different, especially as both players may yet have their best years ahead of them. Its timing is also fortuitous: Zimbabwe have vital World Cup Qualifiers coming up, at home, in the New Year, a no less crucial World Cup appearance, and a nine-team Test league to break into in 2019. The road to those goals starts here, and both players will have major roles to play.Shai Hope scored 375 runs in six innings in England, at an average of 75.00, and was the leading run-scorer on either side in the three Tests. The desiccating heat of Bulawayo will feel a long way from Headingley’s temperate green fields, but his returns will be no less important to West Indies’ success. Hope scored a one-day century at this ground on West Indies’ last tour of Zimbabwe and is an increasingly important member of his team’s middle order.

Team news

After scoring nearly 2000 runs for Nottinghamshire, including six centuries, during his international absence, Taylor slots straight back into the playing XI. Taylor scored just 123 runs in five innings, at an average of 24.60, during Notts’ Division Two Championship campaign last season, but Zimbabwe won’t be too bothered. He cracked a comeback hundred for Mid West Rhinos a few weeks ago, and should feel right at home in Zimbabwe’s middle order. Jarvis should be equally au fait with the new ball, though spin might bring more reward as this match progresses. As such, Tendai Chisoro may be in line for a Test debut to partner Graeme Cremer. Completing Zimbabwe’s new look, Solomon Mire is also a very strong contender to debut at the top of the order.Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Solomon Mire, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Regis Chakabva (wk), 8 Graeme Cremer (capt), 9 Tendai Chisoro, 10 Kyle Jarvis, 11 Chris Mpofu.A settled unit, West Indies are likely to stick with similar combinations to those used in England, but there will be a greater importance to the performance of their leading spinner, Devendra Bishoo. Their selectors have shown faith in the likes of Kyle Hope and Shane Dowrich despite iffy returns in England, and that faith should extend into the playing XI.West Indies (possible): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Kyle Hope, 4 Shai Hope, 5 Roston Chase, 6 Jermaine Blackwood, 7 Shane Dowrich (wk), 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Shannon Gabriel.

Pitch and Conditions

Zimbabwe will have had a good look at the pitch that will be used for the first Test – the squad played a practice match on it last week. While not as slow and spongy as the track that West Indies played on in their own warm-up at the Bulawayo Athletic Club, the Queens track will probably play a little on the slow side and take spin despite the fact that neither of the two rounds of Logan Cup matches so far this season were played here, so it is still fairly fresh.The summer rains have not yet quite reached Zimbabwe, and the thermometer extended well beyond 30 degrees in the week before the Test. The energy-sapping heat should stick around, while there may also be a few thunderstorms about over the five days.

Stats and Trivia

• Zimbabwe and West Indies last played a Test match more than four years ago, in Dominica. Zimbabwe have never beaten West Indies in a Test match.
• Zimbabwe have only one Test win at Queens Sports Club, by an innings and 32 runs over Bangladesh in 2001.
• Zimbabwe last won a Test four years ago, against Pakistan in Harare. They have since lost nine out of nine: five at home, three in Bangladesh, and one in Sri Lanka.
• West Indies have won two of the six Test matches they have played this year.
• Shai Hope, Kyle Hope, Roston Chase, Kieran Powell, and Kraigg Brathwaite all passed fifty in West Indies’ warm-up match.

Quotes

“We know what the Queens Sports Club wicket does. We’re trying to make the wicket suit our strengths and that’s part and parcel of playing at home. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”
“If you look at the squad Zimbabwe have picked, they’ve got six players who can bowl spin. The wicket here is traditionally very good for batting and spins more and more as the game goes on. Having said that, we’ve also got two or three guys who can crank it up to over 90mph and at that pace it doesn’t really matter where you’re playing, it’s hard to bat against.”

Dale Steyn is expected to make a comeback to competitive cricket, after a year on the sidelines, in the Ram Slam on Wednesday. Steyn has been named in the Titans’ 13-man squad set to play the Knights in Kimberley, for their second match of the competition.The Titans beat the Lions in their opening game on Sunday, where Steyn carried drinks and reunited with his team-mates after seven years at the Cape Town-based Cobras. Steyn, whose career began up-country with the Titans, opted to return to the franchise while still recovering from the broken bone in his shoulder that has seen him spend the last 12 months out of action.In that time, Steyn has had a pin inserted into his right shoulder and overcome torn bicep and pectoral muscles. When speaking to ESPNcricinfo last month, Steyn explained how he was slowly building up his bowling loads so that he could be at 100% by the time he returns. That time, it seems, is now.To make space for Steyn in their XI, the Titans will likely have to leave out David Wiese from the side that beat the Lions. That means the Titans could boast at least six current internationals with Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Farhaan Behardien, Aiden Markram, Tabraiz Shamsi and Lungi Ngidi all in the mix and Dean Elgar waiting in the wings. Morne Morkel and Chris Morris, who are recovering from a side strain and a back injury respectively, are not part of the Titans’ squad for now but are both expected to make comebacks at some stage of the Ram Slam.If all goes well with Steyn’s participation in the Ram Slam, he is expected to make a return to the national side in whites, where he needs just five wickets to overtake Shaun Pollock as South Africa’s highest Test wicket-taker. South Africa play Zimbabwe in the inaugural day-night Test over Boxing Day and then host India for three Tests. New coach Ottis Gibson has already indicated Steyn will walk back into the XI provided the man himself is confident he can get through a full Test.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGetty Images

Suzie Bates scored her second successive half-century to lead New Zealand women to a series-clinching 42-run win over Pakistan women in the third T20I in Sharjah. Bates’ unbeaten 65 off 57 balls (3×4, 2×6) proved the difference in a low-scoring contest, as Pakistan, chasing 127, slumped to 84 all out.Bates steered New Zealand out of early trouble after they chose to bat first. Natalia Pervaiz struck two early blows to leave New Zealand 31 for 3 in the seventh over, following which Bates took control, adding 57 for the fourth wicket with Katey Martin (25) and an unbroken 38 off 19 balls for the fifth wicket with Katie Perkins (14*).Pakistan’s chase got off to a good start, with Nahida Khan (23) and Sidra Ameen (16) adding 39 in 29 balls. But Sophie Devine’s dismissal of Ameen triggered a collapse that saw all ten wickets fall for the addition of only 45 runs. Medium-pacer Hannah Rowe grabbed three wickets, while the legspinner Amelia Kerr picked up two.

On the night before the biggest day of his career, Rajneesh Gurbani could barely let his eyes close. It was the “woke-up-worrying-it’s-late” experience that most of us have endured at some stage. Except that for Gurbani, it wasn’t just another day at the office.Gurbani was playing the biggest match of his life. His body had already been through a hellacious lot, having sent down 49 overs. Gurbani had taken his team to the brink. But there was still a job to do. This was his chance to not only witness history but make it happen.Sleepless and weary, the events that unfolded after Gurbani took the field at Eden Gardens on Thursday could well have been a dream. Except, it wasn’t. For four whole days and a bit, the match continued to swing both ways. But throughout, there was one constant: Gurbani never ceased to tantalise. Resolute and courageous, he kept Vidarbha’s dream alive.”Anxiety. I felt it all night long,” he said. “I woke up at 12.30am thinking it’s 6. I wanted the match to start then and there and finish the whole thing off. For the first time, I was ready at 6am with my clothes on and ready to go.”Once he took the field, the nerves only got worse. It made him change his angle repeatedly, at one point doing it four times in an over. Karnataka weren’t going to go down without a fight. But Gurbani wouldn’t buckle. Blessed with a keen sense of understanding of his strengths, Gurbani continued to bowl the best way he knew: being consistent with his lines and lengths and try to force an error from the batsmen.The plan worked. Vinay Kumar poked at a wide one. Abhimanyu Mithun miscued a big hit. And S Aravind edged one that shaped away from him. In each of those deliveries, Gurbani had managed to find subtle movement. As the last of those wickets fell, Gurbani sank to his knees, with team-mates jumping on him. He then acknowledged a thinly scattered crowd by flashing the match ball. Some of Vidarbha’s players were in tears, but Gurbani was moved when he saw the emotion on coach Chandrakant Pandit’s face.”All the credit to how I’m bowling goes to Chandrakant Pandit sir and Subroto Banerjee sir,” he said. “Both of them supported me well and brought about some skill changes. Chandrakant sir used to make me bowl at one spot for an entire day. He used to make me bowl on demand: a whole day of inswingers, a whole day of outswingers or hitting the off stump. This sort of match simulation meant that when I came out, I could bowl any of these deliveries at any instant.”Outswing is Gurbani’s natural weapon. He can swing the ball in the air and get it to move off the deck. He manages skiddy pace, which makes him a dangerous bowler in front of the stumps. Gurbani has a smooth run-up. The action flows from the time he runs into the crease, at an easy pace. The wrist position is accurate as he tilts back and the movement is supple when he bends his back.”He has worked on the incoming delivery,” Prashant Vaidya, the former India pacer and the VCA’s incumbent vice-president, told ESPNcricinfo. “He was very consistent with his length, his line used to be very good and he was essentially a very good away-swinging bowler. But this year, he has improved greatly in bringing the ball back in. So if that starts happening, even his strength, which is the ball moving out, becomes more lethal. When you can move the ball both ways, it puts the batsmen in two minds. And he has improved in pace, which has made him more effective with the natural swing he has.”Gurbani’s ability to read situations and recognise his strengths stand out. Though shy off the field, his willingness to take initiative and bowl in any situation impressed Vaidya. That quality came through in Vidarbha’s quarter-final, when Gurbani ripped through Kerala with four wickets in four overs and gave Vidarbha a substantial first-innings lead. For Vadiya, that spell in the quarter-final was still a more accurate reflection of the improvements Gurbani had made.”These are favourable conditions to seam bowling, but the spell he bowled to Kerala in the quarter-final, that was out of nowhere,” he said. “In four overs, he turned the entire game on its head. I think that really stands out for me.”If I have to compare him to somebody in India team, he is in the mould of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. I would not hesitate to put him in that mould. He puts the ball consistently in that corridor and has the ability to swing it both ways.”The technical side apart, a lot of the pre-season work for the lithe and wiry Gurbani went into building himself up physically. “It was all about pushing myself to run that extra mile or the extra session or two in the gym,” he said. “But through all of it, the goal was to become champions. While lifting weights in the gym, I used to have guys come up to me and say, ‘Guru, put on 10 kilos; Vidarbha needs you to be strong’.”So it was about working harder and pushing yourself harder for that extra spell. We were obsessed with becoming champions, because becoming champions is what is going to give us our identity.”For Vaidya, work still remains on the fitness front. “As you go to higher levels and play more cricket, you need to complement or balance it with physical fitness,” he said. “Because he is going to play longer seasons, more cricket. You need strength.”He’s a very wiry person. I don’t want that to change because that’s his strength. That gives him that momentum and agility. But you need the strength to bowl longer and play longer seasons.”Having a coach who thinks like him has reconfirmed what Gurbani wants out of this sport. “When Chandrakant sir came into the side, we all wondered how he is,” he said. “And we were all advised that he will either make you do it or make you leave cricket.”It was in sync with how I am personally – either I grow in cricket or I leave cricket. I don’t want to be stuck in between. Of course, he shouts at me, and I want him to shout at me so I don’t get too carried away. Watching his emotions when the team doesn’t perform – he can’t sleep. Though performance is not in his hands, seeing him being so involved and invested inspires us.”Where Gurbani goes from here is anybody’s guess right now. But whether he grows in cricket or leaves cricket, for the hand he has played in Vidarbha creating history, he has made his name synonymous with the state’s cricket for the next few years at least.

Morne Morkel claimed his first Test five-for in five years against Zimbabwe. It is a statistic that barely tells the story of the kind of danger he poses, but one that he hopes will allow him to keep his spot in the starting XI for the summer’s bigger contests.”It was nice to get wickets under my name so when it comes to selection, guys will maybe think about me,” Morkel joked after the Boxing Day Test.The reality for Morkel is not quite so funny.Despite being the most successful seamer in the match, he is the also the one most at risk of missing out when Dale Steyn returns, as soon as next week. South Africa take on India at Newlands from January 5 in the first of three Tests, and will likely stick to a frontline attack of three seamers and a spinner in Cape Town. Kagiso Rabada, the highest wicket-taker for South Africa in 2017 and second-highest overall, and Vernon Philander, a menace on seaming pitches, are all but secure. This leaves the selectors to choose between the swing of Steyn and the bounce of Morkel, who admitted he “never knows,” if it could be him on the bench.”We’ll have to see,” Morkel said. “Dale has been bowling exceptionally well in the nets. He looks strong, he is very fit and I reckon he would have been a handful on this [Port Elizabeth] wicket but it’s another week for him to freshen up.”It’s also another week without game time for Steyn, which may work in Morkel’s favour. While Steyn has not played an international fixture since November 2016, Morkel has featured in all but one of South Africa’s Tests since March. Morkel missed the second match against Bangladesh in October after suffering a side strain in the first and needed six weeks to recover.Despite only playing one 20-over Ram Slam game (Steyn featured in five), Morkel took to the field in a three-day match before the Boxing Day Test. He bowled 19.4 overs and took seven wickets in that match. Steyn, meanwhile, returned 0 for 16 from his 12 overs for CSA XI against the touring Zimbabwe side. On workload alone, that may have meant Morkel was going to play ahead of Steyn in the four-day, day-night Test, but a viral infection Steyn picked up on the eve of the match saved the selectors from needing to choose between the two.Now Morkel has international overs in the legs while Steyn has spent the last week in the nets. That may make it prudent to play Morkel in the first Test against India, while sending Steyn off to play a three-day match. South Africa’s provincial teams have a round of fixtures from January 4 to 6, which may be used to prepare Steyn for a Test return on spicy Highveld surfaces.South Africa have asked their groundsman to prepare pitches with pace and bounce and to leave grass on them to facilitate seam movement as they prepare to push the home advantage against India. Even at St George’s Park, where it is usually slow and flat, the ball was nipping around. Though leaving more grass on the pitch is a common tactic in pink-ball matches, it was also a convenient time to let India know what they are in for.Morkel was careful not to sprout too many threats too early. “For me, there is no personal sort of message, for us it’s important not to get involved in those sorts of things,” he said. “If we are strong and we are fit and we get the results in the wickets column, it will make nice reading in the papers. In the past, the build-up has always been great, the talk of the wickets, the talk of the bounce, we do have a slight advantage, but we still need to land the ball in the right areas, still need to bowl with intensity.”He emphasised the third session as being particularly important for the South Africa attack because it’s then that their endurance will be tested. “It’s going to be about that last session in the day when the ball is soft and conditions are tough,” Morkel said. “Majority of the runs in Test cricket are scored after tea time. So for us, it’s going to be if we have enough petrol in the tank to knock India over at the back end of the day.”Morkel’s own fitness over the last few months has been a focal point for him, especially because he spent most of 2016 on the sidelines with what could have been a career-ending back injury. He worked on smoothing out his action and prioritising international cricket. “With the back injury I had, it was important for me to really look at the schedule and find windows where I can do my conditioning work,” he said. “England was a big tour for me, I wanted to be fit and I knew if I went to IPL, which can be quite a demanding six weeks, I would be in trouble.”Whether he will return to the T20 leagues remains to be seen but for now Morkel is committed to playing for South Africa for as long as possible, even as an understudy to Steyn. “Mentally, I am a lot fresher [when I take breaks], it gives me a lot more time to work on certain things,” Morkel said. “When you play back-to-back series or games you don’t really have that time to work on certain things. But now, to set goals and to try and reach that is very pleasing.”

Nick Winter belts out an appeal•Getty Images

Nick Winter’s third five-wicket haul in four innings has put South Australia on the brink of an upset victory over New South Wales at the SCG.The Blues began the day at 1 for 61 looking to set South Australia a substantial total to chase in the fourth innings. They progressed to 1 for 87 before Daniel Worrall removed both Daniel Hughes and Ed Cowan.Winter then claimed four of the last seven wicket to secure his first Sheffield Shield ten-wicket haul in just his second match. Worrall finished with 4 for 55 as the Blues were all out for 213 with a lead of just 189.A steady half-century from Jake Weatherald (56) and a solid contribution from John Dalton (29) set the run chase up. Stand-in skipper Callum Ferguson was unbeaten at stumps with his team requiring just 43 on the final day with seven wickets in hand.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGetty Images

Only 23.1 overs were possible on the second day in Auckland as steady rain prevented no more than 90 minutes of play. New Zealand’s best Test batsman Kane Williamson, though, brightened up a gloomy afternoon with his 18th Test hundred, passing Martin Crowe and Ross Taylor to become the country’s leading century-maker. He eventually fell for 102 shortly after the tea break, lbw to James Anderson, England’s only wicket of the day.Williamson reached the landmark with a trademark glide towards gully. In the company of Henry Nicholls, Williamson added 22 runs in 10 overs prior to heavy rain forcing an early tea 40 minutes into the first session.Under cloudy skies, Anderson found some movement with the new ball after the break. In the fourth over since resumption, Williamson had shuffled too far across against a prodigious inswinger from Anderson. An optimistic review didn’t save him.Nicholls, at the other end, showed admirable patience and a tight defensive technique, repeatedly leaving balls outside off stump he didn’t need to play, and only venturing into an attacking shot if the bowlers erred in his areas.BJ Watling, after missing the West Indies Tests due to a hip injury, struck three fours in his unbeaten 17, helping New Zealand stretch their significant first-innings advantage to 171 before periodic spells of rain wiped out the rest of the day.

England’s summer in the Southern Hemisphere began with the Test match at the Gabba. Mark Stoneman and James Vince gave them an excellent platform with encouraging half-centuries, adding 125 together, before failing to go on. England never had a foothold in the Ashes after that.Fast forward five months and the match situation is somewhat better – they lead by 231 runs and are well placed to push for a series-levelling victory and have something to show for their efforts with the pink and red ball. But for Stoneman and Vince, there is a feeling of deja vu. Half-centuries apiece, a stand of 123, the promise of more, but frustrating dismissals.

New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling is hopeful a Christchurch pitch losing some of its life will keep them in with a chance of saving – or even winning – the second Test and with it taking the series.
The second new ball is 14 overs away and represents New Zealand’s last chance of having a realistic target to chase, but the bounce and carry evident for the quicks over the first half of the day has lessened.
“It’s definitely a lot flatter than over the first few days,” Watling said. “It doesn’t look like it’s breaking up at all, it actually looks like it’s getting a bit deader. I don’t think it will do a hell of a lot on the final day so we just need to get ourselves into a position to hopefully win the game.”

Stoneman had significant fortune in his innings – dropped on 48 and 57 – but couldn’t make it count when he finally paid the price for flashing outside off. Vince played with increasing confidence during his third Test fifty – all of which have come at the No. 3 position – after regaining his place that he had to forego due to the batting reshuffle at Eden Park. As ever, the drives were working well and, almost as inevitably, one brought his downfall when he edged to slip with a spot-sealing maiden Test hundred on offer.”Going forward, I’m sure both would have loved to have got hundreds and gone on for themselves and their confidence,” Graham Thorpe, the England batting coach, said, “but they’ll still get good pat off us in the dressing room because it’s easy to shrink sometimes at this level so it was important they stood up and continued to play in a positive manner.”Stoneman now has five Test fifties – including two in this series – but none higher than this 60 while Vince averages 30.54 at No. 3 from his six Test against Australia and New Zealand. Since Trevor Bayliss took over in 2015, there has been one century from the opener who isn’t Alastair Cook (and his form is heading south) or the No. 3 who isn’t Joe Root – Keaton Jennings’ 112 on debut against India (Adam Lyth’s hundred against New Zealand came while Paul Farbrace was in temporary charge).There are alternative names who will be mentioned in the lead-up to the next series, against Pakistan in May, and a strong start to the domestic season could attract interest despite England Lions being beaten 3-0 by West Indies in the four-day matches. Liam Livingstone has been on this tour – he is not someone for the top three but the batting order is also far from settled – while the likes of Haseeb Hameed, Joe Clarke, Dan Lawrence and Nick Gubbins will be touted. Recently capped players such as Jennings and Tom Westley could also restate their credentials.However, both incumbents have probably done enough to mean they will start against Pakistan, but England will leave this tour without really having a clearer picture about the best way forward for their top order.”They are in the side so they are in charge of their destiny every time they walk to the crease so the more experience they gain they are in a position to go to that next level,” Thorpe said. “Ultimately it’s up to them to take that next step and go towards three figures.”There are areas of the Test side where we aren’t going to say everyone is guaranteed places. We are constantly trying to get more out of players who are in the starting XI. You have to look at your squad and think are there better players out there or do we have to keep working hard. We have to be patient with players, the more you learn you do get over those hurdles in Test cricket and start to feel very settled. We are hoping a few of them are close to that with the Tests they are starting to play.”England arrived in Australia with a batting line-up in a state of flux and will leave New Zealand in the same position. The attacks of Pakistan and India await. They will sense vulnerability.

Jofra Archer insists that the dream of playing Test cricket for England remains his ultimate ambition, but admits that a life-changing winter on the global T20 circuit may eventually force him to reassess his priorities in a bid to avoid burn-out.For the past two years in county cricket, Archer has been quietly recognised as the Next Big Thing, ever since breaking into Sussex’s first team midway through the 2016 season. But it was during his stint with the Hobart Hurricanes in the recent Big Bash that he shot to global prominence, consistently pushing 145kph in claiming 16 wickets at 23.06, as his team finished runners-up to Adelaide Strikers in this year’s final.Off the back of those performances – which also included some breathtaking moments of all-round skill, such as two incredible run-outs and a nonchalantly brilliant one-handed return catch off Brisbane Heat’s Ben Cutting – Archer was snapped up for GBP 800,000 by Rajasthan Royals in this year’s IPL.”It is life-changing,” Archer told ESPNcricinfo at Hove, ahead of his departure for India. “I’ll be able to buy my own home, and change my family’s life as well.”It’s probably the biggest T20 competition outside of international cricket, and I can’t play international cricket at the moment, so it’s probably going to be the biggest challenge of my life so far. I just want to perform as well as I did in the Big Bash and take that form back to Sussex.”The reason that Archer cannot currently play international cricket is that he has opted to put his England ambitions ahead of those of his native West Indies. He turned 23 this week and is in the early stages of his seven-year residency qualification, which means that his availability for Test cricket won’t be until 2022 at the earliest.”I just want to tell them, be patient, I’m coming,” was Archer’s message for England’s Test supporters, who might see in his languid and athletic attributes the answer to their long-standing fast-bowling problems.”[My priorities] won’t change. I think Test cricket is the reason I tried to become a pro, I just hope that the time flies. If it is that I have to wait until 2022, I’m much happier doing what I’ve done this winter and seeing new places, so either way I’m not fussed about waiting.”Nevertheless, there’s a huge amount that could happen in Archer’s career between now and then, especially given the proliferation of the global T20 leagues. This winter alone, Archer has already featured in the Bangladesh Premier League, the Big Bash and the Pakistan Super League, and is set to embark on another packed county season with Sussex when he returns from the IPL at the end of May.”For me is about juggling cricket and my family time,” he said. “I’m in England for 210 days a year, and other franchise tournaments limit my family time, but family time is most important to me. If it is that it is going to cut into my family time, I may have to leave a tournament out.”My family keeps me grounded, keeps me sane,” he said. “I try not to be away for too long, it is very easy to be constantly on the go. l literally left Bangladesh [in December] and went to the Big Bash, within hours of it finishing. You can be here, there and everywhere in a matter of hours.”His next venture, however, promises to be a step into the unknown, as Archer makes his first foray into the IPL. He will at least have some familiar faces around him, with Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes making for a sizeable English contingent at the Royals, the Jaipur-based franchise which won the inaugural IPL in 2008.”Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of Jos over the winter,” Archer said. “He was in Bangladesh as well as the Big Bash. I don’t really like bowling to him so it’s really good to have him on my team. And Ben Stokes, he spoke to me as well, after the auction, it’s good to know I have support even before I go there.”One significant name who won’t be present for this season, however, is Australia’s captain, Steve Smith, who had been set to captain the Royals until his contract was terminated in the wake of the recent ball-tampering scandal.”The biggest key is not to let it get to you,” he said. “There’s hype in every tournament in whatever tournament you go to, but obviously with Steve Smith not being there now, that probably shifts some of the hype off of me, but I just want to stay clear of that, to be honest.”With his laid-back Bajan attitude, Archer doesn’t look like the type of guy to let fame and fortune go to his head. But he still remembers clearly the moment his life changed during the IPL auction,”We’d just finished one of the Big Bash games, I was a bit upset because we lost – it was the last prelim game and we had to hope that Renegades beat Brisbane Heat, and they did – but before that I was a bit upset. So I went into my room to watch the auction, and I still can’t believe that so many teams were bidding for me, and I still can’t believe I went for that much money.”One man who missed out this time around, however, was Archer’s Sussex team-mate, Tymal Mills, who was himself the stand-out tale of the 2017 auction when Royal Challengers Bangalore paid GBP1.4 million for his tearaway quick bowling. Though Mills is as phlegmatic about his situation as you could wish any player to be, his is a useful cautionary tale about the ups and downs of professional sport.”I haven’t really spoken to him too much about it as we were still playing at the time and I didn’t want to shift my focus from the Big Bash,” said Archer. “But this year the draft was a bit weird. Guys like Martin Guptill, T, even Chris Gayle didn’t get picked up in the first rounds. So I’m not too sure what the teams are looking for, really, but I just can’t wait to get out there and just do well.”Two years ago I was playing club cricket, then halfway through that club season I made my debut here with Sussex. And the rest is history really. Everything happens for a reason, I believe that, and I showed that this winter.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIreland’s rise from World Cup giant-killers to fully fledged Test nation has featured a band of familiar faces, few more recognisable than that of Kevin O’Brien. From Sabina Park 2007, when he was in the middle to help seal victory over Pakistan, to Bangalore 2011, when his 50-ball hundred (and pink dye job) slayed England, O’Brien has been at the centre of Ireland’s story. Now he is the first Irishman to score a Test hundred.This time the hair was a more natural, russet colour, as O’Brien removed his helmet to soak in the applause at Malahide. Having been made to follow on 180 runs behind, many would have written off Ireland’s chances of taking the game into day five; instead, they will resume their second innings with a lead of 139 and the prospect of giving Pakistan an awkward run chase – at the very least.A thick outside edge through point off Mohammad Amir brought O’Brien to a milestone that held significance far beyond the personal. Amir’s three wickets earlier in the day had put Pakistan into a position from which an innings win seemed entirely possible – even likely – but O’Brien and Stuart Thompson combined for a 114-run rearguard that not only pushed Ireland in front and burnished local pride, but allowed them to sleep on the possibility of another famous upset.It took a ripping delivery from legspinner Shadab Khan to remove Thompson, bowled playing back as the ball lurched from the rough outside off stump, but No. 9 Tyrone Kane then dug in stoically for an hour and a half for 8 off 67 balls to frustrate Pakistan further.Having taken four wickets in brisk fashion during the morning, and then a couple more after lunch, Pakistan’s seamers went flat as the day wore on. Thompson was dropped on 6 off the bowling of Rahat Ali, a low edge to Sarfraz Ahmed’s left, but was largely untroubled in recording a maiden Test half-century that was marked by growing confidence. Rahat was particularly innocuous and Thompson’s thump for four to bring up fifty and the century stand with O’Brien summed up the shift in fortunes.As in the first innings, when he top-scored with 40, O’Brien was an assured presence at the crease, his bat seemingly as wide as St James’s Gate, temperament as reliable as the stout Dublin is most famous for. Rather than booming drives and pulls, he played softly and watchfully, gliding several boundaries through third man or off his pads. A tap through mid-on secured him fifty, another first for Ireland in Tests.The spirit epitomised by Gary Wilson’s first-innings resistance, batting at No. 9 with an injury, and the opening stand second time in between Ed Joyce and William Porterfield coursed through the Irish effort. While Amir bowled through the pain of a knee problem, Shadab found turn and Mohammad Abbas continued his penetrative start to life as a Test cricketer, Pakistan became increasingly anguished.A thick edge through vacant second slip in the penultimate over of the day brought a scream of annoyance from Amir, as a weary O’Brien stared blankly down the pitch. O’Brien came close to playing on and being lbw to Abbas in the next over but there was no succour for Pakistan.Such an outcome seemed unlikely after an eventful morning session, in which Ireland extended their opening stand to 69 before Joyce was run out by a direct hit from Faheem Ashraf at mid-on. In a match that has seen plenty of dodgy running, Joyce was perhaps unlucky to be the only man run out (so far); he ended up fractionally short after calling a tight single, with Ashraf’s throw aiming at one stump doing just enough to dislodge the bails.That gave Pakistan an opening, which they quickly exploited. Andy Balbirnie made an unwanted sort of history when he was hit on the pads and given lbw against Abbas for the second time in the match, becoming the first Ireland batsman to register a Test pair. Keen to avoid a similar fate, Niall O’Brien’s first run came via a risky single that left him on his knees sporting a wry grin and muddy sweater.The elder O’Brien made it into double-figures before being detonated from the crease by Amir, who flattened the stumps with a delivery that reversed in to the left-hander. William Porterfield, who laboured for 120 balls over his 32, was given a torrid time during Amir’s initial seven-over spell and eventually succumbed to a wicked outswinger that Sarfraz held on to.Ireland at that stage were 95 for 4, still 85 from putting Pakistan in for a second time. Paul Stirling was lbw shortly after lunch, Abbas locating his pad fractionally before bat came into play, and when Wilson was caught slip off Amir it was 157 for 6 and the result all but certain. Then Kevin O’Brien’s scriptwriter intervened again.